Air conditioning apparatus



June 2, 1942. c. M. ASHLEY ETAL AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Original Filed June 3.7. 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l MAs/zleg INVENTOR Carlye J ames Swinburne BY- yfi S ATTORNE June 2, 1942.

c. M. ASHLEY ET AL AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Originl File d June 17, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR CarqyieMAskley {afizes Swazbarzw ATTORNEY tioning unit;

Patented June 2, 1942 2,285,075 AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Carlyle M. Ashley and J assignors cuse, N. Y., Syracuse, N.

ames Swinburne, Syrato Carrier Corporation, Y., a corporation of Delaware Original application June 17, 1936, Serial No. 85,642. Divided and this application April 5, 1939, Serial No. 266,052

1 Claim. (Cl. 62-117) This invention relates to air conditioning and' is a division of co-pending application, Serial No.

' 85,642, filed June 17, 1936. I

The general object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus for air conditioning enclosures, and more particularly vehicles such as railroad cars or the like.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved apparatus for air conditioning ve hicles such as railroad cars in which the refrigerating equipment is located beneath the car.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved undercar arrangement of refrigerating apparatus used to effect desired air conditioning of the car, which arrangement assures an adequate supply of air utilized for condensing refrigerant employed in such refrigerating system, and which gives assurance against short circuiting of the air delivered from the undercar refrigerating apparatus to the air inlet there- It is another object of the invention to providean undercar arrangement of refrigerating apparatus which is relatively simple and inexpensive and which is readily accessible for purposes of inspection, repair ,or replacement.

- Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more apparent from the following description to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig.1 is a side elcvational view of a railroad car, partly broken away to illustrate diagrammatically applicants air conditioning system;

Fig. 2 is a schematic and diagrammatic viewlengthwise of the car and partly in section of applicants air'conditioning unit;

Fig. 3 is a plan view ofapplicants air condi- Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of applicants air conditioning unit; and

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the undercar refrigerating unit. Referring now to the drawings, numeral Ill designates generally a railroad car having a. monitor top ll of' conventional design. Within the monitor space, proximate the center of the car II is positioned an air conditioning 1init,generally designated I2. In a preferred formof the invention,there is provided a false ceiling [3 below the conditioning unit I: and extending between end walls 13a. An opening ll, formed in the false ceiling, is adapted to return air from the car to the unit for reconditioning. Preferablya filter I5 is associated with' the opening 14 for removing particles of dust and other forwithdrawn sired,acoo ling may be provided in connection with return air opening [4 and the fresh air openings [6, for

controlling the proportions charged into the car. If desired, the false ceiling l3 may be eliminated. In such case, applicants construction would be modified by the'provision of ducts for conveying fresh air from the openings IE to the unit l2; or the width of the unit might be increased so that it extends from one side of the m0nit0r top to the other. A wide variety of such modifications in arrangement and design may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

In the central portion of the unit are two sets of fans designated I81; and lab respectively. Since the unit forms a closed casing except for the. air inlet openings and discharge openings at the ends thereof, the air delivered within the unit through the air inlets l4 and I6 is supplied to the inlets of the fans. Preferably, all. the fans I80. are mounted on a single shaft Illa which is driven through belt connection 20a by motor 2| and fans 18b are mounted on a single shaft |9b which is driven through belt connection 20b by motor 21. Although the rotors of fans [8a and fans l8b are rotated inthe same direction, air

is dischargedby these different sets of fansin' with a series of deflector vanes 22, disposed in a V-shaped formation within an equalization or pressure chamber 23. A set of cooling coils 24 is positioned in each end of the unit l2, thus to condition the separate air streams travelling in opposite directions set up by the fans Ila and lib, respectively. Cooling medium is supplied to coils 24 through a common supply line 25, and

therefrom medium of any desired charline 2. Cooling acter may lie-employed in the coils to effect the deflred reduction in air temperature. Thus the coils 24 may be usd as a chemical refrigerant is evaporated, or, if demedium such as water or))rine,

Filters l1,

of fresh air and return air circulated through the unit and dis-- .toward opposite" through common return expansion coils in which be supplied thereto.

. therefrom through return lines up by applicants the end of a passage templates that the ducts may I proximate the centerthereof,

cooled by suitable refrigerating mechanism, may Moisture condensed from the air contactingcoils 24 is collected in pans 21 whence it is drained'through pipes 28 for disposal in any desired manner. v

The unit is also provided with a set of heating coils 29 at each end thereof, adapted toheat fair supplied to the car under winter operating conditions. Heating medium is supplied to the coils 29 through feed lines 30 and is returned 3|. Heating medium of any desired character may but preferably steam, from the locomotive boiler or any other available source, is employed.

Air which has passed through the coils 24 and 29 issues from the unit through discharge openings 32 in the opposite ends thereof. The end walls |3a are, of course, provided with openings substantially coinciding with openings 32. Discharge openings 32 may be provided with louvres or the like, as may be'desired, to enhance the appearance of the unit and to control the direction of air discharge therefrom.

be, employedi The air discharge from the unit proximate the ceiling level travels at relatively high velocity toward opposite ends of the oar through the space abovethe zone of occupancy. Before it settles into the zone of occupancy it has thoroughly mixed with, and has been attemperated by, air in the upper portion of the car. Thus drafts and shock are 'eifectively avoided. Moreover, comfort'is assured in all portions of the car by the active rolling circulation of conditioned air set drawal.

I Applicant's unit is illustrated anddescribed as v being positioned proximate the center of the car.

method "ofair supply and with- Such location of the unit is preferred. However,

the unit may be positioned elsewhere than in the center of the car,

cars, such an arrangement may, ferred.

Although the distribution of air is preferably accomplished without the use of ducts, air disin fact, be pretribution ducts for conveying air from the openings 32 lengthwise of the car may be-provided, if desired, without departing from the scope of the invention. Applicant does not limit himself to any-particular duct arrangement, and conbe formed within the monitortop of the car, or externally of the car, or in any other desired manner. 1

Refrigerating equipmentadapted to be used in conjunction with applicants air conditioning unit may be of any desiredftype or design, and may be located any desired point within or below the car. Preferably, however, the refrigerating equipment is placed below the car and to avoid encroachment upon the useful car area and to avoid excessively long connections to the air conditioning Fig. 5 illustrates applicants preferredtmethod of circulating air over the refrigerating equip-- ment used for supplying cooling medium to the apparatus located in the top of the car. According' to this invention, the condenser of the refrigerating equipment is of the refrigerating unit, and the other equipas, for example, proximate or area. In sectionalized equipment in the one end of the unit is discharged by fan ,34 over the condenser 35 in the other' end of this unit. The air is then discharged to the atmosphere through a lbuvred'outlet opening 31 formed in the same side of the casing 36 as opening 35. The outlet louvres are preferably adapted to discharge air upwardly from the unit, so that the heated air carried away by the outdoor atmosphere. The inlet opening is provided with a screen and/or louvres which extend downwardly and away from the inlet opening. Although the upward inclination of the discharge louvres effectively prevents rebounding of air from the road bed and consequent short-circuiting," the downward inclination of the inlet louvres gives double assurance against this occurrence. Thus, an ade- 0 quate supply of fresh outdoor air for cooling and condensing .purposesis assured.

While the invention has been described in connection with a railroad car, its use is not limited to such applications. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that applicants method and apparatus, as herein disclosed, may be advantageously used for the conditioning of enclosures of all types. The invention is particularly beneficial in the conditioning of long and narrow enclosures, which heretofore have been exceedingly difficult to condition satisfactorily.

Since many modifications in and variations of the invention may be made without departing from its scope, applicants intend that the above description and accompanying drawings be considered as illustrative only, applicants limiting themselves only as indicated in the appended claim.

We claim:

In a combination of apparatus for air-conditioning a railroad car, a condensing unit, a mounting beneath a railroad car, said condensing unit being mounted on said mounting, a casing housing said condensing unit/said casing havf two openings comprising an air inlet and an air outlet side by side and parallel with a side of the car for admitting air into said casing and discharging air from the casing, louvers in said openings, said louvers being horizontal and parallel with the path of blower within the casing for circulating air through the casing .over said condensing unit in a course through said louvers serving said inlet and outlet, means in combination with the inlet for assuring an adequate'supply'of fresh outdoor airfor cooling said condensing unit, said louvers being arranged in combination with saidinlet positioned at one end and outlet and positioned at differing angles whereby air substantially in the same volumes 3 will be admitted to the casing regardless of the direction of movement of the car in a'course preventing short-circuiting to the. air inlet of air discharged from the air outlet. I

CARLYLE M. ASHLEY.v JAMES s NBU Nn:

is intermingled with andv movement of the car, a- 

